The talent on this team really hasn't changed much from last year but the coaching change I think will be a big difference for the T'Wolves. Rick Adelman is on the bench now and Kurt Rambis has been shown the door. Adelman usually has a pretty good, open offense that emphasizes passing and movement so there's no reason why that couldn't help these guys out. Speaking of passing... Ricky Rubio is going to make his long awaited debut this season. Can he shoot?...eh maybe,maybe not but he gets others involved and on a team with overlapping talent on the wings, that will be his biggest asset. Beasley and Love return and will be the two main go-to guys and both produced about 20 a piece. I think that Derrick Williams will be an interesting forward for them because he can play both spots (and also gets the clock ticking on Beasley's eventual exit). The typical head-scratching move from these guys would be signing JJ Barea while already getting Rubio and already having Ridnour on the roster. One would think you could trade Ridnour down the line but knowing these guys they'll probably keep them all and just bury one of them (Again..Ridnour is the likely guy). Barea is a change of pace from Rubio in that he's more of a scorer and less of a passer so it'll be a good balance I think. Defensive competence was a big red mark for them and I think that they will be improved but not good by any stretch of the mind. In their starting 5 I count one above average defender (Darko of all people) so that should tell you where these guys' downfall will be.

X-Factor

It's Ricky Rubio. He's been given so much hype from the Olympics and his play for Barcelona, everyone wants to see if he can do what he's done overseas here in the NBA. I hope his shooting isn't as woeful as people say it is (Think on the lesser side of Rondo) because that could create an issue for his passing lanes if they are basically challenging him to shoot. Regardless, Minnesota should be interesting on the break if he's out there because you never know what he. might do. (ed: Kevin Love is good at basketball... Just a reminder for the world)